


take your bite

by aetherae



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, either way as always: extremely self-indulgent, in this house we worship estelle and give her the respect she deserves, that turned into a vesperia feel-good family fic, this is an estelle kicks ass fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 03:59:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16716191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aetherae/pseuds/aetherae
Summary: Estelle throws down. None of them expect it, but looking back, Yuri thinks they probably should've.





	take your bite

**Author's Note:**

> tbh i should really be waiting until this is complete to post it instead of just finding some place to split it up BUT I CAN'T WAIT, I'VE HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS AND I LIKE IT SO MUCH I WANT TO SHARE IT!! it's funny though because originally the idea i had was just another love song of a fic for estelle, and then it turned into a love song of a fic for the party in general. here's hoping i maintain both of those things in the next part.
> 
> all that said, enjoy!

It all starts at a party.

This isn’t Yuri’s kind of party. No, with dozens of fancily-dressed nobles waltzing all around him and nothing to do aside from smile (read: grimace) politely at the gathered crowds and down another hors d’oeuvres, this is as far from his kind of party as it gets. He tugs at the stiff collar of his tunic, the one that Karol made him buy specifically for this event, and wishes he was back in Dahngrest training the new recruits. Or hell, he’d even take being back in his old room down in the Lower Quarter.

One panicked look from Karol and raised brow from Judith though means all he can do is sigh and pop in a passing hors d’oeuvres.

“Aw, c’mon kid.” Raven sidles in closer, champagne flute in hand and looking way too comfortable in his formal guild attire for a former—and technically dead—knight captain. “This shindig ain’t _that_ bad. Just look at all the free food we get ta mooch off of!”

“Besides, you should be proud of this event, Yuri. It’s thanks to you and the other guild members here that this whole thing is even happening.” He knows that Flynn is just as uncomfortable with these kinds of events as he is, but not a single trace of that discomfort comes through. No, he looks perfectly proper and resplendent in his formal armor. On anyone else it’d look absolutely ridiculous, but his best friend makes it look easy, like he was born to wear it.

Just that would be annoying on its own, but Flynn has an actual point too, and that’s enough to make him grab for his own champagne flute.

It’s been a long time in the making, but the formal trade deal settled between the Empire and the guilds really is plenty reason to celebrate. Lowered tariffs, more open communication between traders, and plenty of newly created jobs to help the work—Yuri’s no expert in economics, but even he can tell that it’s about as perfect as a deal can be, especially one struck between powers like these. Sure, he’s got notoriety between both the Empire and the guilds, and there’s some familiarity with the former’s trade customs thanks to having lived there his whole life. He did what he could to help, naturally. Flynn can thank him all he wants, but as far as he’s concerned, it was only thanks to Karol’s orders that he could help as much as he did. If it wasn’t for Brave Vesperia’s leader, he doesn’t think the Empire and guilds ever would’ve gotten past that first meeting together.

So he’s proud, yeah, proud that he could help Karol blaze out a trail and make something the world’s never seen before. And he’s proud of Estelle too, for holding her ground against the Council time and time again to make sure the agreement was fair for both sides. He watched as time flew and Estelle made probably half a dozen stops between Dahngrest and Zaphias every month, speaking with every involved party and getting as much input as she could. He’s proud of all of them, for the work they’ve done. Saving the world might’ve been hard enough, but it’s nothing compared to keeping it safe.

Still, that doesn’t mean he has to _enjoy_ any of this. Yuri’s prouder than anyone else, but if this is what his efforts reap, he’ll complain for every minute of it if he wants to.

“So what you’re saying is that me being bored and antsy here is my own fault.”

“If you’re that bored, you could’ve helped me out a bit!” Karol groans when he reaches him and the others. Despite the way he practically yanks at the collar of his formal tunic, he cuts a pretty damn good figure. His recent growth spurts are probably what helps with that, even if he’s a bit more gangly than tall at the moment, but Yuri tries not to think too hard about how tall he’ll end up. “I have no idea what Zaphias nobility like to talk about, and I just had to talk to that lady for probably thirty minutes straight!”

Judith simply pats him on the back, reaching over to grab a plate of food and hand it over to Karol. He wastes no time in stuffing his face with shaky, likely anxiety-fueled hands. “Oh, hush now, you did fine. For nobility, she looked perfectly interested in the conversation you two had. I might even say she actually learned a thing or two from you. Although,” she pauses, grabbing a glass of water, “I’m sure you could’ve said _anything_ and she would’ve been absolutely fascinated. It’s not every day you get a strapping young lad stumbling over their words for you.”

Yuri snorts up half his champagne, as does Flynn beside him, and the only reason he doesn’t notice Raven’s guffawing laughter is because of how hard Karol chokes on his food, reaching out for a drink before Judith slides her glass into his hand with perfect timing.

“ _Gross_ , Judith, how can you say something like that?! She was practically old enough to be my mom! My grandma even!”

“Ah, young Karol, that’s exactly why,” Raven sighs with his hand over his heart. “When ya get ta that age—and yer not as charming as me of course—gettin’ attention like that only comes once in a blue moon.”

They all laugh despite Karol’s increasing protests, no matter how much louder his shouts get, and for a second Yuri thinks he might finally start to have some fun at this party until—

“Is _that_ the leader of Brave Vesperia?”

“That child making such a ruckus? Why yes, I do believe it is.”

Somehow, tittering nobles cut through the noise of a crowd unlike anything else. Yuri feels his shoulders tighten and tense, sees the way Raven and Judith go rigid where they stand, but Karol keeps his eyes glued on the plate in his hand. Flynn levels him a look. He doesn’t move.

One of the nobles scoffs over his glass of champagne, shaking his head. “They call themselves a guild when their leader’s just a _boy_? Honestly, are they even a legitimate guild? Not that those savages seem to have any set of rules, but surely one can’t expect a child to be leader.”

“Oh, but didn’t you know? That’s the guild Lady Estellise hired to escort her around Terca Lumireis,” another noble says, snickering behind her ornate flan. “So they must be good for killing a few monsters at least, if nothing else. Then again, what else are the guilds good for?”

“Didn’t the princess train with someone or other though?”

“Nothing but rumors, I’m sure. The Council most likely spread it to try and give their candidate a little more credit to her name—not that it did much, of course. And now that Lord Ioder’s ascended the throne, here she is running back and forth, trying to involve herself in political affairs now. You could almost admire her for trying so hard to stay relevant,” another noble says, her smile sharp as a knife as she drinks from her wine glass.

“It’s pathetic, is what it is. The least she could do is be a bit more subtle about her desperation, but I suppose she hasn’t the tact for it.”

His knuckles turn white from the death grip he has around his sword, and underneath the armor, he’s positive Flynn’s look the same.

The woman with the fan shakes her head, closes her fan before smacking it into her glove-laced hand. “To think she didn’t come to the knights for protection, the Empire’s sworn shields! Scandalous, is what I’d call it. Don’t you think so, Lady Heloise?”

“It is rather unfortunate. Any true knight, myself included, would have gladly given our lives to ensure her safety during her travels.” The other woman sighs into her wine goblet, brow furrowed and lips pursed. When she rolls her shoulders in an easy shrug though, Yuri can see the laughter in her eyes. “But I suppose you have to chalk it up to the whims of a shut-in princess. If she wants to keep the company of an embarrassing child, some Lower Quarter murderer, a senile old pervert, and some Krityan bimbo, well, who are we to deny her?”

Judith’s hand clamps down on his shoulder before he even moves.

“I know it’s hard, but you _cannot_ start this right now,” Flynn hisses. Karol moves to stand right in front of him for good measure, but he sees the way his fists stay balled up at his sides. It takes a lot to work up the captain’s temper, and this ticks off every box for it. “There’s too much at stake for the guilds for any of you to lose face right now.”

Raven rubs the back of his head and sighs. “He’s right, y’know. This party’s their test to make sure we can pull of workin’ with ‘em. If we make a scene now, this deal’s goin’ down the drain for all the guilds.”

“So what, we’re just supposed to roll over and take it every time they start spewing bullshit about us?” He couldn’t care less about what they have to say about him—hell, at least they’re finally changing up ‘scum’ a bit—but as far as he’s concerned, when it comes to the Empire’s nobility, the rest of them are off limits.

“Just for now.” Judith finally lifts her hand from him, but despite the way she holds her arms folded together, casual as ever, her smile is cold and sharp. If his blood’s boiling, her eyes alone could freeze someone to death. “But the moment we step outside of this room, I’ll happily join you in tearing them apart.”

“Please, Yuri? I wanna punch them in the face just as much as you do, but…” Karol looks back over at the nobles, balls his fists anew, before he faces him again. “But this is too important. It’s more than just us.”

He looks at him, looks at the face that represents Brave Vesperia, will probably come to represent the entirety of the guilds soon enough—and lets go of his sword. Karol’s come this far to make something of himself, and he’s not about to mess that up for him just because of some nobles being shitheads like they always are.

“Alright, alright, you guys win. Jeez though, it’s not like you have to act like I’m about to start a riot here.”

They all roll their eyes at him, but he just smiles wider. When he looks back into the crowd and over at that same group of nobles, hears their mocking laughter and knows they probably heard just about everything they said, he has half a mind to start a riot for real.

“Take it back.”

But Estelle’s voice cuts clear across all the chatter, and the lot of them doubletake at Estelle of all people talking back to the noble, Yuri included.

The woman stops her wine glass halfway to her mouth, slowly lowering it back down. “I beg your pardon?”

“Every single word you’ve said about Brave Vesperia and all its members, including its leader Karol Capel, is untrue and disrespectful. Your slander is inexcusable, and as your princess, I’m ordering you to take it back.”

His mouth drops open, and he sees everyone else do the same. Even Judith’s eyes are bulging wide. Estelle _never_ pulls rank on anyone, not with them or citizens or even the knights. Hell, he’s positive she never talked like that to anyone from the Empire back in the day, not even the likes of Ragou or Cumore. Later on when he looks back, he’ll realize that sure, Estelle didn’t talk to them like that _back in the day_ , but the Estelle of _now_ definitely wouldn’t have let things gone on as they did.

But in the present, Yuri has absolutely no idea what he’s witnessing, and all he hears is Flynn mumble, “Lady Estellise…?”

“With all due respect, your highness,” the woman hisses, teeth clenched so tightly together Yuri wants to tell her to just go ahead and scowl, “you cannot order me to change my opinion. You may tout these hooligans as saviors of the world as much as you want, but other than hearsay, we’ve no proof of anything you claim they’ve done.”

Estelle takes a deep breath, but he watches as she unclenches her hands and brings them to rest placidly in front of her, and thinks maybe this nobility spat will end. “You’re right, Lady Heloise, I can’t order you to change an opinion. That was an abuse of my title, and for that, you have my apologies.”

Heloise’s lips twitch briefly into a smile, and he feels Judith’s hand clamp down on his shoulder one more time before he even takes a step towards her. Estelle merely peels off one of her gloves, but he sees the nobility all around them gasp and widen their eyes. He even hears Raven mutter, “oh, _shit_ ” under his breath.

“But on my honor, you _will_ take your words back.” Estelle throws down her glove with enough force to bruise, and when she looks back up at the noble, her gaze remains just as powerful. “Lady Heloise Novak, I hereby challenge you to a duel.”

To her credit, Heloise catches herself before she drops her wine glass onto the floor. She can’t do much to pick her gaping jaw off the floor though, and Yuri smirks in her direction.

“You can’t be serious, princess. Surely this must be some kind of jest?”

Estelle cocks her head, eyes wide and innocent—so really, as far from innocent as you can possibly get. “I’m perfectly serious, Lady Heloise. Of course, if you’re simply too afraid to accept the duel, I understand completely. Take back what you said, and the matter will be settled.”

She smiles to boot, and while he and the rest of Brave Vesperia are on the verge of wild cheering, he thinks Flynn’s about to have a heart attack. Raven, eyes caught wide in terror but mouth open and ready to laugh, looks somewhere in between.

He can’t say he’s surprised when that brings Heloise back from her shock. She closes her mouth, brow furrowed in a glare, when she bends to pick up Estelle’s thrown glove and tosses it right back at her.

“Have it your way. I accept your duel, Lady Estellise Sidos Heurassein. Name your second.”

“What’s a second?” Yuri whispers, not daring to take his eyes off the scene, but just as he assumed, Raven answers quickly.

“Think of it like yer witness or yer backup. They’re the ones who either get the parties ta stand down or decide where the fight’s takin’ place. If I had ta guess who she’ll name though, there’s fat chance of a compromise happening…”

Estelle wastes no time, gesturing to the girl standing beside her. “I name Rita Mordio, esteemed mage of Aspio, as my second.”

Yuri only recognizes their favorite mage when she starts sputtering as all eyes turn to her, but in his defense, he can’t think of a single time he saw Rita in some fancy done-up gown, let alone a regular dress, and he hadn’t had the chance to catch up with her this whole party. She attended the get-together as an interested party and something of an investor given that the up-and-coming mana technology needed input from not just the Empire’s mages but people from all walks of life. The incoming trade deal meant easier travel for everyone working on this, her included. From the way her eyes bulged and mouth hung upon, he knows she wasn’t expecting anything more than to trade theories with a few fellow mages and (attempt to) schmooze it up with a few nobles to ensure funding.

But if Estelle heard what Heloise said, there’s no doubt that Rita did too, and it takes only a moment for her to regain her composure.

“I accept.” She leans in closer to Estelle. “Remind me what a second does?”

Estelle gives her a small smile, saying, “Just follow along our leads, it’s easy.” She turns to face Heloise again, smile gone and eyes sharp. “And who shall you name as your second?”

The noblewoman smiles and tosses her hair with a flick of her wrist. “I name my younger brother Holland Novak, first son to House Novak, as my second.”

The man who’d been trashtalking with her steps up at her side, proud smile plastered all over his face. It makes Yuri want to flip him off just to see what he’d do in response.

“Of course, dear sister.” Holland takes another step forward to gesture at Rita. “Now, Miss Mordio, was it? Are you sure the princess cannot be made to take back her challenge? Lady Heloise has a generous, forgiving heart. I’m sure she’d be willing to dismiss this little… spat, as it were, if only the princess would drop her charges. I know my sister well, and the edge of her blade even better. It would break my heart to see such an outstanding knight bring harm to royalty she is sworn to protect. And between you and me,” he half-heartedly whispers as he leans closer to Rita, his proud smile a pure and simple shit-eating grin now, “without her pet guild at her call, I doubt the princess could last even one minute against Heloise. She’d skewer her into mincemeat.”

This time its Karol’s shoulder Judith’s hand clamps down on. “Oh, come on! This lady can’t be that good, can she?”

“She made the rank of Captain in record time, even faster than me.” Flynn grimaces, and Yuri has complete faith that Estelle can kick anyone’s ass, all of them included, but. Flynn grimacing is never a good sign. “I never faced her in combat myself, but I’d be wary.”

In front of them, Rita doesn’t even try not to snort.

“Pretty bold of you to assume Miss High-and-Mighty over there can even land a single hit on Estelle. Sorry, pal, but there’s no chance in hell she’s dropping the charges. You insulted our friends, and you’re gonna pay the price for that.” She crosses her arms, and from the way Estelle’s hand’s tremble where she’s holding them together in front of her, he’s positive it’s taking every ounce of her restraint not to pull Rita into a bear hug right that moment. “So name your time and place, Novak, and you better remember to write your will the night before, because you’re not walking out of this unharmed!”

Yuri blinks. “… They’re not dueling to death, are they?”

“They don’t hafta, no. Honestly, most duels end before anyone even draws their swords ‘cause nobles chicken outta anythin’ dangerous. Lookin’ at these two though…” Raven sighs, and his grin would be funny if he didn’t look so absolutely exhausted. “Shit, I think they just might.”

Judith hums, arms folded against her. “Estelle would never harm someone so grievously. As for this Heloise girl… Well, I’m not so sure.”

“But… But she can’t just _kill_ her, right?! I mean, Estelle’s a princess! Wouldn’t she get, I dunno, arrested or something? She’d practically be an assassin!”

“Anything goes in a duel, kid. If Heloise here actually killed Estelle, it’d be lawful in the Empire’s eyes no matter what.”

And then he’d be arrested or executed or _whatever_ on the spot because there’s no way in hell he’d just stand by and watch Estelle be killed over something like honor, Yuri thinks to himself, opens his mouth to say as much because he knows the rest of them are thinking the exact same thing, but there’s still a duel to sort out. Heloise shoots Rita a nasty look and then her brother a slightly less nasty one. Holland sighs, carrying her glare into his tone.

“Two days from now. The Knight’s Courtyard at dawn. Do you accept?”

Rita looks over to Estelle, and the princess gives the slightest of nods. The mage turns back to the Novaks. “She accepts.”

Estelle sweeps back in a deep curtsy, arms out wide as she lifts the skirts of her dress. She looks the perfect picture of noble poise and respect, save for the small but sure grin on her face when she lifts her head to look back at Heloise. It’s a smile Yuri’s felt on his own face all too often.

The nobility here might think she’s just another dainty little highborn like the rest of them, but he knows she was born to wear that shit-stirring grin.

“I’ll see you in two days, Lady Heloise. You’d best prepare yourself.”

It’s only for a split second but Heloise scowls, teeth bared, before she storms out of the room in a whirl of hair and silk. Her brother follows close behind, as does most of the crowd around them. Through all the commotion, Estelle’s eyes land on him, and he watches as her lips curve in a different sort of smile, softer and bright enough to light the entire room. She looks over at all of them there at the appetizer table and approaches.

“So, I trust you’ll all be coming to the duel?”

**Author's Note:**

> i did do some research on actual duel etiquette but ngl most of the rules i used here came from hamilton's 'ten duel commandments.'
> 
> and now for the shameless self-plug... if you enjoyed this or any of my fic, you can find me at ko-fi under this same un!


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